Many of us webOS enthusiasts were looking forward to HP’s 7″ webOS tablet, code-named Opal. News showing the device, which was then officially named the HP Touchpad Go, going through FCC testing got us even more looking forward to the device being released…and then HP said no more webOS devices. So frustrating!

A lucky person posted photos on a Chinese discussion forum called ZooPDA (original thread seems to be down now) of a TouchPad Go prototype unit, which he claimed he’s had for around 3 months. The pictures showed that the TouchPad Go has a rear camera with flash, which the original 10″ TouchPad lacks. The TouchPad Go has a 4:3 aspect ratio screen, with a resolution of 1024 x 768, similar to the larger TouchPad, meaning the Go has a higher PPI than the original TouchPad. It also looks like the Go has a soft-touch cover on the back, similar to the Pre 2, instead of the glossy back of the original TouchPad. Rounding out the specs, the prototype has a dual-core, 1.5GHz Snapdragon processor with 16 GB of storage. And according to the article on This is My Next, there may be an NFC module in the Go, but perhaps it’s just the same sensor that was used in the TouchPad for the Touch-to-Share feature.

It’s a huge disappointment that this device wasn’t released. The smaller, higher PPI screen and availability of the rear camera with flash combined with webOS would’ve been a great package to compete with many of the other 7″ tablets currently on the market (though admittedly, the TouchPad Go probably would not have fared well against the upcoming Galaxy Tab 7.7 with the Super AMOLED screen). If they could’ve sold the TouchPad Go at a competitive price, I think it would’ve done pretty well. However, it’s all just wishful thinking at this point.